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Democrat David Cicilline has secured majority support over Republican challenger Brendan Doherty in the race for Rhode Island’s First Congressional seat. Cicilline leads Doherty 51 percent to 41 percent in an initial head-to-head vote prior to the presentation of any new information about the candidates. With only 8 percent undecided, the contest is not very mobile and Cicilline is the likely winner of it. The First Congressional District remains heavily Democratic. President Barack Obama dominates Republican challenger Mitt Romney and fully 50 percent of voters believe their families are better off if Democrats have a majority in the United States Congress, while only 16 percent of voters feel their families are be better off if Republicans have a majority. Voters favor Democratic positions on many key issues facing the country, including health care reform. Seventy-two (72) percent of voters in the First Congressional District support the Democratic position favoring the Affordable Care Act, while 22 percent of voters favor the Republican position of repealing the Affordable Care Act completely, and starting the process of health care reform all over again. In a three-way vote prior to the presentation of any new information about the candidates Cicilline leads Doherty 46 percent to 36 percent, with independent candidate David Vogel receiving 7 percent and 11 percent of voters undecided.
Methodology: Five hundred interviews were conducted between September 13 th and September 17th (excluding September 14th), by professional interviewers. The sample was pulled from voters who had participated in the 2008 or 2010 general elections, or who had registered since that time. Respondents were screened additionally for their likely participation in the 2012 general election. The partisan registration of the sample was 47 percent Democratic, 9 percent Republican, and 44 percent No Party Affiliation, reflective of party registration in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District.